“Math-Based Asset Index, LLC (“Index Provider”) [the twins’ firm — ed.] developed, calculates and publishes Winkdex on a continuous basis using a patent-pending mathematical formula developed for such purpose. The formula provides a volume-weighted, exponential moving average market price by blending trading data from the largest Bitcoin Exchanges by volume on a list of Sponsor-approved Bitcoin Exchanges. Bitcoin Exchange criteria for inclusion as a Winkdex constituent include (i) trading denominated in US Dollar, (ii) availability of trading data, (iii) volume criteria and (iv) lack of recent trading halts. The Index Provider maintains a monitoring system that tests for these criteria on an ongoing basis.”

Another milestone has just been passed in bitcoin’s bid for global domination. Notably, a restaurant in Dubai has become the first in the United Arab Emirates to accept payments in the digital currency.

In fact, The Pizza Guys, as the artisan pizzeria is called, is one of the very first merchants to offer a physical outlet for cryptocurrency in the whole of the Middle East. According toCoinMap, the restaurant was beaten to the number one slot by a grilled meat eatery in Israel.

Belief in bitcoin

The restaurant’s owners, husband and wife team Amber Haque and Rami Badawi, say they decided to enter the world of cryptocurrency partly to give customers more options for payment, partly to save on fees themselves, but also to participate in something new and interesting.

“We have been reading and thinking about bitcoin for some time,” said Haque.

A shop selling bitcoin vouchers has opened on the edge of London’s financial district. Called Azteco, the store allows customers to buy bitcoin with cash from an attendant.

Customers arrive, decide how much bitcoin they want to buy and hand the attendant cash. The attendant then prints out a voucher containing a code that can be redeemed at the Azteco website. A 3% commission is charged on each transaction. Conversion rates are taken from BitcoinCharts.com.

Azteco’s founder, Akin Fernandez, said his service is designed to make buying bitcoin as simple as possible for the general public.

“Everyone already understands how to use a voucher to top a mobile phone. I wanted to create a model that makes it as easy as possible for people to get bitcoin. And this is exactly what this does.”

Fernandez said he had performed a “handful” of transactions since the shop opened its doors on 17th February, and that his customers so far have been people with some knowledge of bitcoin but who didn’t previously hold the cryptocurrency.

“Mostly they come in to chat. Demand is very small at the moment, so I don’t expect to have a line of people outside the shop,” he said.